West Surrey Racing
|firstseason = 1996 |founder = Dick Bennetts |drivers = Colin Turkington (No.5) Rob Collard (No.10) Nick Foster (No.18) |car = BMW 125i M-Sport |sponsor = eBay Motors |previouseasonresult = 2nd (Independent Team's Championship) |entries = 485 |wins = 54 |firstwin = Silverstone 1998 |podiums = 181 |fastestlaps = 71}} West Surrey Racing are a British Touring Car Championship team, currently competing as eBay Motors in the 2014 season. Current Season WSR are currently running three BMW 125i M-Sports under the name of eBay Motors.http://www.btcc.net/team/ebay-motors/ Their drivers for the year are former champion Colin Turkington (current leader of the driver's championship), Rob Collard and Nick Foster. History WSR were first formed in 1981 by New Zealand racer Dick Bennetts, and entered cars in British Formula Three until the mid 1990s, helping to start the careers of some of the world's greatest drivers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Surrey_Racing The team took 70 wins in their time in F3, before Bennetts moved the team's resources over to the BTCC in 1996. Factory Fords Part of WSR's move was the fact that Ford offered them the role of being the factory backed team, giving the team two Ford Mondeos to develop. Paul Radisich (a fellow New Zealander to Bennetts) came over from the old Ford backed team (which had been run by Andy Rouse), with Steve Robertson (who had worked with WSR before in F3) joining him as WSR's drivers. The season got off to a poor start, with Radisich hitting Robertson at the start of the first race, sending both tumbling down the order. Things did not get much better, particularly for Robertson, who ended the year with two points, putting him behind many of the independent entries. Radisich salvaged 27 points to take thirteenth overall, while WSR claimed seventh in the team's standings at the end of the year. WSR rebuilt the Mondeos completely over the winter, effectively running two brand new cars at the start of 1997. With former BTCC champion Will Hoy joining the team, WSR looked to be competitive, although the aging Mondeo slowly fell away as the season progressed, with Hoy and Radisich ending the year in fifteenth and thirteenth respectively, while WSR finished seventh in the Manufacturer's championship. 1998 was set to be another poor year for WSR, particularly when Radisich left the team, being replaced by an unfancied Craig Baird at the start of the year. However, the Mondeo, in the hands of Hoy, upset the field when it took victory at Silverstone, giving WSR their first win. Another highlight came at Donington Park in the rain, when Nigel Mansell (standing in for Baird) drove from last to fourth (although he was later demoted to fifth) in the Mondeo. Hoy finished the year sixth overall, the best result for WSR. Honda Honours 1999 Honda Accord, run by WSR.]]Before the start of the 1999 season, WSR and Prodrive swapped roles, with WSR taking over the Honda factory cars. James Thompson and Peter Kox came with the Honda Accords, and proved to be a better combination than WSR had had with Ford. Thompson took victory at the first race of the year, before taking three further victories throughout the year to take fourth overall. Kox claimed the only victory in the BTCC in the first night race at Snetterton, taking seventh overall, while Gabriele Tarquini was given a car to drive at the final two rounds of the year. The year 2000 saw all but three manufacturers pull out of the championship, leaving Ford, Vauxhall and the WSR Hondas. WSR opted to run three cars, with Thompson retained, Tarquini coming in for a full season, and rising Danish star Tom Kristensen taking the third car. Thompson was absent at two rounds, with David Leslie and Kox replacing him at those rounds after Thompson suffered ill effects after a crash at the second meeting for several weeks. Furthermore, the factory Fords (which WSR had run less than two years ago) proved to be largely unbeatable, leaving Tarquini to take sixth overall, beating rookie Kristensen by six points and Thompson (who claimed eighth overall) by twenty. WSR claimed the runner-up spot in the maunfacturer's championship in 2000, their best result as a manufacturer. MG Magic in 2002.]]WSR only competed at the final three meetings of 2001, introducing the BTC-Spec MG ZS on behalf of MG. Anthony Reid claimed the only non-Vauxhall victory that year, claiming a win in the penultimate race of the year. 2002 saw WSR return to the BTCC in a full season, with Warren Hughes (who raced alongside Reid at the end of the last season) and Reid retained. WSR also ran an 'Independent' entry sponsored by Atomic Kitten, which ran two more MGs for Colin Turkington and Gareth Howell. Reid claimed fourth overall, finishing highest of all WSR's drivers, while WSR and Team Atomic Kitten claimed second and sixth in their respective championships. TAK was dropped as a team in 2003, with Turkington given a third MG built by WSR for the year. WSR's driver's claimed sixth, seventh and eighth in the championship in a year where the MG was unspectacular but reliable. The team was dealt a blow at the end of the year, however, when MG dropped their backing, meaning WSR became an independent entry. Hughes' car was dropped, with Turkington and Reid running the two remaining cars. Reid claimed the 2004 Independent's championship that year, while Turkington finished runner-up, with WSR claiming third in the team's championship. 2005 and 2006 were quiet years for WSR with Rob Collard their only entry in 2005 (Turkington returned to drive a second car in 2006). Collard claimed the team's only win over the two years at Knockhill (his first), with the only other highlight being that WSR became one of the first team's to run cars fuelled by bio-ethanol, when their two MGs ran the final nine races of 2006 using the bio-fuel. 2006 saw WSR obtain the sponsorship of RAC, meaning the team competed as Team RAC. BMW Battlers WSR bought two BMW E90 320sis for the 2007 season, and built them into racers for Turkington and rookie Tom Onslow-Cole, with RAC continuing as the title sponsor. Turkington claimed the Independent's title, while Onslow-Cole impressed enough for the factory backed VX Racing to poach him at the end of the year. Stephen Jelly was brought in for 2008, although Turkington proved to be the team's better driver, claiming his second Independent's trophy in a row. Jelly would finish fifteenth overall, and would be retained for 2009. leading Fabrizio Giovanardi at Brands Hatch in the Team RAC (WSR built) BMW in 2009.]]2009 saw WSR claim their first major trophy (other than the Independent's championship), when Turkington claimed the overall driver's title. WSR entered a third car for Anthony Reid in the final rounds to support Turkington, although WSR would missout on the team's championship that year to VX Racing, as Jelly and Reid could not keep up with their title winning team mate. RAC pulled their title sponsorship money, meaning WSR could not afford to run Turkington, while Jelly and Reid went their seperate ways. Collard rejoined the team, while Andy Neate joined, having been a director of one of WSR's sponsors. Neate left at the end of 2010, with Nick Foster coming into the team for 2011, although these seasons were quiet for WSR. The eBay Era charger, the BMW 125i M-Sport in the hands of Rob Collard.]] 2012 saw eBay Motors become the title sponsor of WSR (having sponsored them before in a lesser role), with WSR opting to fit new NGTC engines to their cars (with a third car built for Onslow-Cole). Collard had his best season, taking three victories, as WSR returned to the fore of the championship, taking second in the team's championship. 2013 saw the return of Turkington to the team, as WSR developed the BMW 125i M-Sport for the championship. Turkington took the cars first win at the fifth meeting of the year, with WSR claiming the runner-up spot in the Independent Team's championship, while Turkington claimed second in the Independent Driver's championship. Honours WSR have been a major team in the BTCC for a number of years, and have been a potent force in the Independent category since they lost factory backing in 2004. *1999 **Manufacturer's Championship Runner-up (Team Honda Sport) **Team's Championship Runner-up (Team Honda Sport) *2000 **Manufacturer's Championship Runner-up (Redstone Team Honda) *2002 **Manufacturer's Championship Runner-up (MG Sport & Racing) **Touring Team's Championship Runner-up (MG Sport & Racing) *2004 **Independent Driver's Championship Champion (Anthony Reid) **Independent Driver's Championship Runner-up (Colin Turkington) *2005 **Independent Team's Championship Runner-up (WSR) *2006 **Independent Driver's Championship Runner-up (Colin Turkington) **Independent Team's Championship Runner-up (Team RAC) *2007 **Independent Driver's Championship Champion (Colin Turkington) **Independent Team's Championship Champion (Team RAC) *2008 **Independent Driver's Championship Champion (Colin Turkington) **Independent Team's Championship Champion (Team RAC) *2009 **Overall Driver's Championship Champion (Colin Turkington) **Independent Driver's Championship Champion (Colin Turkington) **Overall Team's Championship Runner-up (Team RAC) **Independent Team's Championship Champion (Team RAC) *2012 **Overall Team's Championship Runner-up (eBay Motors) *2013 **Independent Driver's Championship Runner-up (Colin Turkington) **Independent Team's Championship Runner-up (eBay Motors) Driver List Below is a list of all the drivers that have raced for . * Drove WSR built and run cars, but under the name Team Atomic Kitten. References Images *http://www.supertouringregister.com/register/vehicle/100/ - Thompson Accord 1999 *https://www.flickr.com/photos/iainw81/1731876478/in/set-72157602671094594 - TAK MG ZS 2002 *https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghand_39/3415814702/in/set-72157607457555755 - Turkington vs Giovanardi 2009 *https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghand_39/13496951334 - Collard 2014. Category:Teams Category:Current Teams